Dan Sperry Talks About Las Vegas Magic and Lance Burton

With the all of the changes and closures to the Las Vegas magic scene, magician Dan Sperry provides some timely and insightful opinions.

What is the state of Las Vegas magic? Is the age of magic in Las Vegas, post Siegfried and Roy, passed, as some have stated? And after the closure of his long-running show, what might Lance Burton do next?

This is the second in a series of stories about Las Vegas magic - our first featured comments by Jeff Hobson and Kevin James. Stay tuned for commentary from more magicians.

1. Do you feel that the popularity of magic is changing in Las Vegas? And if so, why, and what is the future?

I'm not so sure it is the popularity of magic that is changing, I feel people will always like a GOOD magic show. I think that it is the other kind of shows that are moving into town that are offering more choices for people than just a magic show by a guy who they've never heard of.

There are several magic shows in town but really, the top three that I think people will instantly recognize are #1: Copperfield, for sure, because he has international superstardom. You will get tourists from Japan, the UK, etc who will come to town and instantly know who Copperfield is but they don't know who any of the other magicians really are.

Then you have the domestic tourists who will know who Copperfield is but also who Criss Angel and Lance Burton are. There are a few other guys trailing behind them who have very good shows but just don't have the name or exposure. So when Copperfield isn't in town it drops down to the two domestically known names of Burton and Angel.

Now you throw that into the some 100 other shows in town all fighting for ticket sales and it can be hard to keep up. You have so many shows by Cirque Du Soleil coming to town they're almost like Walmart of Las Vegas entertainment.

So now imagine when a tourist comes to town and they have the choice of seeing some Cirque Du Soleil show about God knows what but all they know is the Cirque name and all the great visual aspects that are in a Cirque show. Or they could choose to see "Mr. Magic" and although the Cirque ticket price is about $25 more, I think the choice is obvious that they'd go with the Cirque show.

And really, Vegas isn't the family destination it was trying to be for a while in the 90s. They're going back to the adult party destination it used to be. If you just look around the billboards, the majority of them are for a night club featuring some DJ with an upcoming guest celebrity host who is most likely female and has some leaked sex tape floating around LimeWire.

In my opinion Las Vegas has turned into a sad shell of what it used to be and could be. It has lost its class and traded it in for the cheap hook of a frat party. But sometimes you have to learn to kill your babies and give your audience what they want to have before you give them what you want them to have.

2. Any thoughts on Lance Burton's next projects/gigs?

I'm not sure. Lance is a great guy, one of the few genuine good guys in our business with a good heart and just all around cool dude, the real deal with real chops so he can literally do whatever he wants and will kick a** at it.

I don't see him being a touring show, but could see him move to a permanent show in a different tourist destination like, for lack of a better word, almost doing something semi-Disney. Because his show has evolved to such a dimple-cheeked family show, all that's lacking are mouse ears. And I say this with all due respect to the guy because he's the last of the best acts to make it.

There will never be another Lance. The times of having an act, getting into a show, getting into a bigger show, to getting your own show with a huge a** contract are over. Lance was the last one.

Now, if he brings back the Hacienda show - the show he had before Monte Carlo - that would run circles around any other show in town. That was when Lance was bad a** and in your face but still kept it cool with his laid back persona. That was the first Las Vegas magic show I ever saw when I was a kid right before he closed - and it still to this day is one of my top favorite magic shows I've ever seen.

I think Lance is going in the right direction with the new photos and billboards he's got around town. He's breaking out of that "Mr. Rogers" look with the red turtleneck and hopefully getting to spread his wings more once he moves out of the Monte Carlo. No matter what, Lance will always be the suavest and coolest magician around town. The magician that after lighting that cigarette in the beginning of his dove act - before even doing any magic - the girls wanted to f*** him and the guys wanted to be him.

More Reading:
Jeff Hobson and Kevin James Talk About Las Vegas Magic
Las Vegas Magic Shows
Review: Lance Burton Master Magician